The Bereavement Counselling Service (BCS) is a charity which offers specialist bereavement counselling in response to complicated grief and traumatic loss.
Services Offered
One to one counselling support.
Our counsellors are trained to help clients manage the wide range of emotions and responses to loss and bereavement. We help to find a way of coping with life without the loved one and to find a more manageable way to grieve.
Our clients will therefore have very individual needs which our bereavement counsellors will approach in a variety of ways. This may include person centred therapy or cognitive and behavioural techniques.
It is our aim to help the client resume a fulfilling life once again.
Bereavement Support Groups
We are offering an additional form of support from November 2017. This will be a series of bereavement support groups for those affected by a traumatic bereavement or for those people have have found themselves 'stuck' with the grief process. Please contact us for more information.
Fees and Payment
We are only partly funded by the NHS and remain reliant on donations to provide our service. If your GP is in the area covered by Plymouth and West Devon CCG we can currently offer sessions free of charge. Donations would still be very much appreciated. We are hugely reliant on these in order to continue offering our support.
If you are outside of this area, we may be able to help you (depending on our availability of counsellors). There would be a charge for this. Please contact us for the latest fees.
A community counseling agency is a group therapy practice that offers affordable mental health services. Most are independent non-profit agencies, state agencies, or publicly-funded agencies. A few may restrict who is eligible for services, so it is a good idea to check when you call.
Community counseling agencies are generally more affordable than other therapy providers, but how much more affordable they are will depend on whether you qualify for a discount or sliding scale fee (or if they accept your insurance). Many, but not all, have a policy that they won't turn away anyone due to inability to pay. You should ask about their fees when you first call.
Expect to talk to kind people who want to help you find the care you need. Most community agencies strive to connect you with a live person within 24 hours, if not immediately. If you're asked to hold or leave a message, don't give up; just leave a message and wait. You should hear back pretty quickly.
Most agencies try to set up an initial assessment appointment within a week (some do within 24 hours), though the waitlist to start therapy is usually longer—about a few weeks on average. If you're not eligible or if the agency is not right for you, it's usually still worth it to call or drop in, because staff are knowledgeable about local options and can often refer you to one.
